Coconut Cake with Passion Fruit Sauce
A tall, buttery coconut cake with a close, tender crumb, served with sharp passion fruit sauce that keeps each slice bright rather than overly sweet.
- Total
- 1 hr 20 min
- Prep
- 25 min
- Bake
- 55 min
- Level
- Medium
- Serves
- 10
- Tin
- 20 cm springform
Butter, eggs and milk give this coconut cake a rich, close crumb, while desiccated coconut adds flavour without turning the centre heavy or wet.
Give the butter and sugar enough time to become pale and airy before adding the eggs. If that mixture stays dense, the tall cake will bake with a tighter crumb.
Ingredients
For one 20 cm springform, serves 10
For the cake
For the passion fruit sauce
You will need
- 20 cm round springform tin
- baking parchment
- electric hand mixer
- large mixing bowl
- medium bowl
- rubber spatula
- small saucepan
- wooden spoon
- skewer
Oven
170°C fan 150°C 340°F
Method
Oven 170°C · fan 150°C · 340°F
Cream the butter and sugar
Put the softened butter and caster sugar in the large bowl. Beat with the electric hand mixer until the mixture changes from yellow and dense to pale, soft and fluffy, with ridges that hold briefly when the beaters pass through it.
Finish the batter
Beat in the eggs one at a time, waiting until the mixture looks smooth again before adding the next, then beat in the vanilla. Stir the flour, baking powder and salt together, then fold them into the bowl in turns with the milk. Fold in the desiccated coconut last. The finished batter should be thick, pale and softly dropping from the spatula, with fine coconut flecks throughout.
Fill the tin
Line the base and sides of the springform tin with baking parchment, then scrape in the batter and spread it level. The surface should sit even across the tin, with no deep hollow in the centre and small coconut flecks visible through the creamy batter.
Bake the cake
Heat the oven to 170C, 150C fan. Put the tin on the middle shelf. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the cake is deep golden, a skewer pushed into the middle comes out with a few damp crumbs, and the top springs back when pressed lightly.
Cool the cake and make the sauce
Leave the cake for 20 minutes in the tin. While it cools, put the passion fruit pulp, caster sugar and water in the saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Cook until the sauce looks glossy and lightly syrupy but still runs easily from the spoon, with the seeds suspended through the golden pulp.
Release the cake
Run a thin knife around any exposed edge, open the springform ring and lift it away. Peel off the side parchment and leave the cake to cool completely. The sides should be evenly golden and firm, while the top should feel dry and gently springy rather than crusty.
Slice and serve
Cut the cooled cake into wedges and lift one slice cleanly from the whole cake. The crumb should look pale golden, close and tender, with fine coconut visible throughout. Pour the passion fruit sauce over each slice at the table so it runs down the cut face and onto the plate.
Baker's notes
- Room temperature eggs and milk mix into the creamed butter more readily, which helps the batter stay smooth instead of looking curdled.
- Use unsweetened desiccated coconut rather than large coconut flakes. The finer texture spreads through the crumb without creating heavy pockets.
- Passion fruit varies in sharpness. Taste the finished sauce after it has cooled and keep its natural tart edge, since the cake itself is fairly sweet.
- Allergens: dairy, egg and gluten. This recipe contains no nuts or alcohol.
Keeping it Keep the cooled cake covered at room temperature for up to two days, or refrigerate it for up to four days and bring slices back to room temperature before serving. Keep the passion fruit sauce covered in the fridge and serve it cool or gently warmed.
Questions, answered
Can I use coconut milk instead of whole milk?
Yes. Use full-fat coconut milk with a smooth, pourable consistency. It will deepen the coconut flavour and can make the crumb slightly softer.
Can I use frozen passion fruit pulp for the sauce?
Yes. Thaw it fully before cooking and use pulp that has no added syrup or sweetener, so the balance of the sauce stays sharp.
Can I toast the desiccated coconut first?
You can, but it changes the cake from a pale coconut crumb to a nuttier, more roasted flavour. Let the coconut cool fully before folding it into the batter.
Can I make the passion fruit sauce without the seeds?
Yes. Press the pulp through a fine sieve before cooking if you want a smooth sauce, though the seeds give the usual speckled passion fruit appearance.
If it goes wrong
- It sank in the middleSeven causes, told apart by the shape of the crater.
- It came out raw in the centreBrown outside, wet inside, and how to rescue the one you are holding.
- The caramel seizedIt is almost always fixable. The lump re-melts.
